you can achieve your goal by using Win7+RSAT as your GP management station. technically this is all you need to do.
there is no need to upgrade servers, domain controllers, etc. unless it is your practise to only perform GP management tasks from a server.
all you need is one Win7 domain member machine, (ideally reserved for admin purposes to avoid polluting it).tesgroup

As “tesgroup” mentioned that you do not need to upgrade to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to use Group Policy Preference
policies. You can configure a Group Policy preference item in a Windows Server 2003 environment from either a Windows Server 2008/R2 server or a Windows Vista with Service Pack 1/Windows 7 client with RSAT update installed. If you do not have Windows
Server 2008/R2 server, you can download and install Remote Server Administration Tools on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 client to manage and configure them.

The CSEs for the new Group Policy preference functionality are required in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Vista to process the new preference items. To download and install CSEs, please refer to the following
link:

Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

this policy setting *does* exist, in Vista/2008 and W7/2008R2 administrative templates. (LinkLayerTopologyDiscovery.admx)
Are you using an older OS to manage your GP?
try it from a newer OS/GPMC (recommend Win7 with RSAT installed, and this will be your new GP management workstation from now on)tesgroup

you can achieve your goal by using Win7+RSAT as your GP management station. technically this is all you need to do.
there is no need to upgrade servers, domain controllers, etc. unless it is your practise to only perform GP management tasks from a server.
all you need is one Win7 domain member machine, (ideally reserved for admin purposes to avoid polluting it).tesgroup

As “tesgroup” mentioned that you do not need to upgrade to Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to use Group Policy Preference
policies. You can configure a Group Policy preference item in a Windows Server 2003 environment from either a Windows Server 2008/R2 server or a Windows Vista with Service Pack 1/Windows 7 client with RSAT update installed. If you do not have Windows
Server 2008/R2 server, you can download and install Remote Server Administration Tools on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 client to manage and configure them.

The CSEs for the new Group Policy preference functionality are required in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows Vista to process the new preference items. To download and install CSEs, please refer to the following
link:

Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

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